[Violent metaphor]

I found this funny article about Game developer PR through Twitter, check it out.

Electric slide

So downloaded and played the demo for the upcoming PS3 exclusive inFamous, (their capitalization, not mine). I found the gameplay to be thoroughly enjoyable, and looks pretty sweet to boot. It's an open-world game that manages to combine the super-powered destruction and mobility of Crackdown with the parkour-esque movements of Assassin's creed, to excellent effect. Your electricity-based powers seem to be well-implemented, although it's interesting to note that they fall into your basic shooter weapon archetypes, (there's a low-powered fast shot, a grenade-type AoE attack, even a "force push" type move, etc.) Still, the combat feels weighty and brutal, and the movements of your character are fluid and easy to control. I really enjoy zipping along the various power-lines between buildings, you can really get some speed going. Plus from what the demo shows, they're using your electricity in interesting ways, (acting as a living "third rail" to power up and rescue an elevated commuter train). The game is out now, and is getting pretty favorable reviews. I'll probably rent it to start, but who knows, it might warrant a purchase down the road. Also on my "to rent" list: Bionic Commando for PS3, and Punch-Out for the Wii.

trailers + music = awesome

So it looks like another cool CGI movie coming this fall: "9". Tim Burton's name is attached to it, as producer, although it isn't his story this time. Apparently based on a short film by Shane Acker (who also directs the feature-length version), it certainly looks like something from the mind of the ever-creepy Burton, at least judging by the trailer I've seen so far. I urge you to go watch it, since I think it's one of the better trailers I've seen this year. The song playing over the short clip is "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria, a song I was unfamilar with until Rock Band came along and included in the tracklist. Now both Jenny and I are fans of the song, if not the artist, (honestly, I haven't tried listening to any more of their work). Either way, I think it works perfect with the dark tone that "9" seems to be exuding. Some trailers just have perfect music, even if that music generally doesn't make it into the final film, there's just something about an awesome trailer to get some chills down your spine. Here are some other examples, this trailer for Sin City or this one for Watchmen.

C:\

Gamers with Jobs has an interesting article on the future of PC gaming, a subject near and dear to my heart. Although I own all the current generation consoles, I still come back to PC to play a ton of my games.
There are some titles that generally work out better with a controller in your hand (mostly franchise leaders like Mario or Zelda), but for first-person shooters and the like, there's nothing like a mouse and keyboard. Games like Fallout 3 or Bethesda's previous entries in the Elder Scrolls series also lend themselves well to the PC, simply for the huge mod community and editing tools packaged with the game. Graphically the newer systems are more than capable of keeping up with mid-range video cards, with the highest-end PC cards costing more than a Playstation 3.
Still, I think PC gaming is here to stay, even if it starts to be the exclusive domain of the hardcore strategy player, I'll be there.

if-then Fantasy

I was listening to the March 31st edition of the Giant Bombcast (yep, I'm still that behind) on my way in to work this morning, and they were discussing Bioware's upcoming RPG Dragon Age, and it's combat AI systems. This got me thinking about another game that had a really interesting way to fight, that I unfortunately never finished: Final Fantasy XII.
Like previous games in the franchise, you have a party of characters with you when you do battle, but in a departure from normal turn-based formula, you can assign AI scripts (called "gambits" in the game) to all or some of them, making them essentially AI controlled. This has been done in other games, setting basic behaviors (attack, defend, etc) for your other characters, but not with the depth that XII has.
You essentially set up a list of if-then statements and put them in descending order of importance for each character. You can do this for every character in your party, essentially making a battle play out with no input at all from you. This is a far cry from the old days where you input each party member's action, although that option is still available for purists.
So you might do the following for a healer-type character:

• if party member status is dead---cast resurrect
• if party member health less than 20%---use high potion
• if party member health less than 50%---cast heal
• attack (you can specify which enemy: closest, weakest, or the one the lead character is attacking)

This puts highest priority on resurrecting anyone killed during the battle, if no one is dead on the healer's turn, it moves on and looks for anyone with less than 20% health, and so on. It's really a deep system, and you can stack at least 10 commands (probably more, I can't remember) for each character. I usually played it with me in full control of Vaan, the main protagonist, and everyone else set up with scripts. You unlock more and more options for scripts as the game progresses as well, so that opens it up even more.
From what I've seen of Final Fantasy XIII so far, I can't tell if they're going to use the same system or not, but I really hope so. I keep telling myself I should go back and try to finish XII, but I don't think I'll have time. Too bad, it was fun while it lasted.

Star Trek

So last Friday, Jenny and I went to see Star Trek, and I think overall we enjoyed it. There were some minor gripes, (and one major one), but we both felt it was worth seeing. Unfortunately, I can't really analyze with any depth without going into spoiler territory, so if you don't want to know what happens, stop reading after this paragraph.

First off, the good stuff: The ship-to-ship combat was visceral and exciting, the ship designs kept the classic look with some new trappings. The feeling of the movie was pretty fun overall, lots of action and some good laughs, (mostly from Scotty). I think the casting was done well, everyone seemed to fit their role, and the acting was pretty believable. The new, updated versions of the characters seem to have some new depth to them (with the exception of Chekov, who is still just a one-joke character). They really play up Spock's trouble with his half-human ancestry, which was interesting, and overall I think he was probably my favorite character. They lay on the whole "Kirk is a rebel, a loose cannon" a little heavy, and that brings me into the parts that I didn't care for.

There is a completely unnecessary scene with a horrible young version of Kirk (featured in one particular trailer for the movie). I suppose that showing the differing childhood experiences of Spock and Kirk was a good idea, but I feel in the car chase scene it was handled poorly. I thought that the enemy ship looked very specifically designed to be an "evil" ship, all grasping tines and organic shapes. The villian Nero mentions that it was a mining vessel before the catastrophic events that form his backstory, but it's hard to believe. The number one complaint both of us had coming out was the inclusion of Old Spock. For a complete series reboot, I don't want to see any of the original cast members in anything other than a cameo role, and even then as a different character, just a wink and nod to "hey there's so and so in the background". I understand what their intentions were with Nimoy, it was to explain to all the trekkies how we can have this new crew go on to do things non-canonical, ("it's an alternate timeline", again heavy-handed delivery there), since Old Spock is the reason things are different now. But I really wish we could do without time travel. It's been done, I wanted an all new crew in an all new universe. Which it seems like we'll get now, I am actually really excited to see where it goes from here, now that we've got the origin of everyone out of the way.

Anyway, to wrap it up, I could write more but I'm out of time, I'd say 4 stars out of 5.

Sappy post ahoy!

So my wife Jenny will be graduating from MATC's Sign Language Interpreter program next Thursday, and I'm so proud of her. I really hope our kids inherit her love of school, I certainly don't want them taking after their deadbeat father. What amazes me is her desire to make a difference in people's lives, to provide a service that is sorely needed and frequently overlooked in our society.
I never once considered that in my choice of career, even in the childhood dreams of Fighter Pilot or whatever, not once did I consider what effect my job would have on other people. I wanted to fly planes (ironic now, considering my ever-increasing fear of flying), not because it would benefit my country or anything, but because it would be cool and make me lots of money. My thoughts were typical, how much will I make, and how much will I enjoy it. Usually the one being proportional to the other, (I.E. the more I get paid, the more crap I'll put up with).
I'm hoping that Jenny will also find herself one of those people who truly love what they do for a living, unlike the vast majority of us. Don't get me wrong, I have no one to blame but myself if I don't like my career choice, the power is in my hands to change it. I feel that power diminishes every year I get older, but there's no saying I can't up and change my life at thirty-four.
This sucks, I'm trying to write about my awesome wife, and I keep digressing into my own career pitfalls. Anyway, I really can't wait to see how well she does in her chosen profession, and I wish for her all the happiness and success of doing a job as rewarding as interpreting for the deaf. I know I'm extremely proud of the person she is, and I'll be cheering the loudest next week when she's walking across the stage. Although I may just yell "TAKE IT OFF!" and get kicked out.

What's in the fridge?

Check this out, courtesy of Twitter.

Writers write

And the rest of us don't, at least not when work is piling up and we end up not having time. I know I'm making excuses, but the two or three of you out there that actually read this will have to forgive me.
So glad The Amazing Race is over, I'll just say that for now. We really were only watching it because there was a deaf contestant, otherwise we usually don't go in for reality TV at all. Anyway, that's all the news worth reporting right now.

Updates

I've got John Davison's blog linked on the right now, so peruse that if you're interested. In gaming, after reading GWJ's write-up of Cryostasis, I went and downloaded the demo. My impressions: The combat seems like it has the potential to be frustrating, depending on how tough the enemies get, simply because most of the weapons seem pretty weak. The setting and how the game handles temperature is definitely worth seeing. There's a palpable sense of relief when you flip the switch in a frozen room and it fills with light and heat. Huge huge system requirements on this game though, it was chugging on my system, and I've got a pretty decent video card. Otherwise, I think the link posted above sums up what interested me in the first place.
In life news, work is stressful and I don't feel like I get enough time when I'm at home, so pretty much normal. I can't wait to have kids, then I'm sure my free time will double!

brainsss

More zombie discussion. I admit I'm inundated with the subject matter right now, so it's on my mind as of late. Still really enjoying World War Z, it still keeps the surprises coming. There are a bunch of different things that have happened that made me stop and say "I never thought about that." Brooks really does present the situation in a fashion that it's just believable enough to happen.
Good stories are like that, if you use a lot of truth and existing knowledge, the one nugget of fiction will hold up. Just ask anyone that reads Dan Brown (overrated in my opinion, but his following cannot be denied). So many people got caught up in the real life Opus Dei and Illuminati stuff, that the entirely made-up stuff just got largely ignored. Putting in a large chunk of reality always helps sell your bullshit.
I think that's the attraction to Science Fiction for me, there's a lot of what-if speculation going on. Add that to existing science technology, move it forward along a predicted progression, and bam! you've got warp drive.
For World War Z, take a lot of viral outbreak and political turmoil scenarios, switch disease with zombies, and you've got a pretty cool look at how it could happen in our modern world. Highly recommended reading.

Zombies

They're everywhere these days.
Not creeping through your hedges or shambling down the hallway of the battered cabin you're hiding in, but in the media.
The undead have been on my mind a lot lately, due in no small part to the fact that I'm currently reading Max Brooks' excellent World War Z, as well as playing Popcap's newest form of crack, Plants vs Zombies on my PC.
The former presents itself as "an oral history of the zombie war", and is told in the journalistic style of The Good War, by Studs Terkel. I'm only a few chapters in, but already I've encountered mechanisms and scenarios that are unique in zombie-related fiction, to my delight. The Walking Dead is another really good read, albeit fairly disturbing, and even Marvel Zombies has held my interest for the few issues I've read.
Plants vs Zombies is another game from the creators of Bejeweled and the highly recommended Peggle, (seriously, go play Peggle right now if you haven't already). It's a mixture of puzzle game and tower defense, as you plant flowers and mushrooms in rows to defend against waves of the restless dead across your lawn. Riddled with the kind of humor one can expect, (there is one type of zombie that looks like Michael Jackson in Thriller), it's a pretty fun time-waster. be warned though, it has a difficulty curve much higher than Popcap's usual fare.
They are the consummate bad guys, from Zombies ate my Neighbors, to Left 4 Dead, the shambling masses have been the antagonists of scores of video games.
It's interesting to note that zombies tend to have specific attributes common across all portrayals, ones that most Americans my age could recite if asked. I mean, who doesn't know to shoot a zombie in the head to stop it? Or that to get bitten by a zombie is a one-way ticket to joining them? I venture to say that most people my age, if faced with a zombie outbreak, would have seen enough movies and played enough games to at least have an idea of what to do. The ridiculousness of it all dampens any real fear zombies may have originally engendered.
My point being, zombies are here to stay, as American as apple pie.

no crayfish left behind

I'll apologize in advance for this post, because I'm about to get preachy.
Yesterday as I was walking down the road between buildings at work, I noticed a live crayfish ambling down the street near the creek. He looked pretty dry, and not knowing a thing about a crustacean's ability to survive out of water,(apparently they're fine as long as they can keep their gills wet occasionally), I scooped him up with some papers I was carrying and got him back in the water.
As I did this some of my co-workers walking with me made comments that reinforced what I was already thinking: none of them would have stopped and taken the 30 seconds to do it. It seemed their overall attitude was "why?", when mine was "why not?". I mean seriously, it cost me nothing except my time.
I think it's part of a larger problem that I have. Most people I know use mouse-traps instead of live-catch traps, because it's just easier. With a live-catch, you have to take the mouse somewhere and let it go, preferably far away from your house, since they'll just find their way back. Why do that when you can snap their little necks and toss the whole package in the garbage?
The weird thing is, I'm not a huge animal-rights activist or anything, I'm certainly not a vegetarian by any means, but I do have a line that I try not to cross. I try not to kill an animal just because I'm too lazy to do the right thing. That philosophy could apply to so many things in the world, so many attitudes and beliefs stem from taking the easy way out, but that's another post altogether.

Back in the saddle

I've broken the promise I made to myself about this blog, I didn't write for a couple of days. No big deal, I still plan to update it regularly, I just don't want to go down the path of putting it off. This is supposed to be some sort of writing exercise, after all.
I finished The Rise of Endymion late last night, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I heartily recommend the entire series to sci-fi fans, or readers in general. It was one of those experiences with media that stays with you, I'm sure I'll be thinking about the books for a while going forward.
I also listened to the first episode of the Out of the Game podcast, with similar results. I had a long drive to see friends in Madison and decided to indulge myself, (I'd been putting it off, like a good book that you know you're going to love). Not to go off too far into the podcast fan-boy territory, but it was a really good show. The sound quality could have been better, and I'm not sure what they were going for with the intro music, but the content was well worth it.
The theme was Born before Digital, and was all about Facebook, other social networks, and the internet in general changing the way we interact with people, for better or worse. For those of us who were around before all this stuff, myself included, it's quite a good listen. I'm also glad they're keeping it off-topic discussion for now, I've got enough podcasts to listen to that focus soley on gaming.
Anyway, the clock on the wall (or rather the clock in the bottom-right of my screen), tells me it's time to get to work.

Start a revolution.

Another awesome game on the horizon: Brutal Legend, by Psychonauts creator Tim Schafer. Watch the trailer. Also this interview with Tim, where he admits to having the same excellent philosophy about writing as Stephen King.